Photo storage site????

[Jeni]

Hi,

I'm in the process of learning and I have potentially lost all my digital photos for the last 6 years on an external hard drive that I have not completely backed up, I was in the process of it. THe drive is going to my computer Doctor in hopes that he can fix/repair/or salvage my photos/plugins/programs.

My question is that I looking for your opinions on what online photo storage site you recommend that doesn't break the bank. I have seen smugmug and a few others but this is something new for me and I don't want to have this happen again if I can salvage my photos.

The potential loss has me consumed until I hear from my computer Dr.......on diagnosis.

Any thoughts/suggestions??????

[gjtoth]

Originally Posted by Jeni

Hi,

I'm in the process of learning and I have potentially lost all my digital photos for the last 6 years on an external hard drive that I have not completely backed up, I was in the process of it. THe drive is going to my computer Doctor in hopes that he can fix/repair/or salvage my photos/plugins/programs.

My question is that I looking for your opinions on what online photo storage site you recommend that doesn't break the bank. I have seen smugmug and a few others but this is something new for me and I don't want to have this happen again if I can salvage my photos.

The potential loss has me consumed until I hear from my computer Dr.......on diagnosis.

Any thoughts/suggestions??????

As others will be sure to jump in on this, I'll mention just 2 or 3. Flickr, PicasaWeb, Kodak Gallery. Inbox.com offers 5 gigs of storage FREE. For $5 a year, they'll back it up for you. You can store anything you want on it... not just photos.

[Jeni]

Thanks I will go check them out. Please let me know if there are any others that y'all recommend.

[Nicole]

One thing you might want to check into is a web hosting plan with a reputable company. The reason I say this rather than recommending Flickr, Zooomr, or Picasa is because none of those offer an easy way to get your photos back in the event that you lose everything. So you'd basically be left with downloading pictures one at a time unless you use third party software which may have bugs or may not work right. If you are basically looking for storage rather than sharing it might be an option because you could just use FTP access to upload and download. And in bulk at that. I love Flickr, but I'm not sure I would use it as my sole backup because of the extra work required to get my pictures back.

[Farkled]

I suggest that you spend your money on good backup software such as Second Copy or AIS Backup and ensure that you have a pair of drives on which to store your your work. Work stored on at least two external drives should be relatively safe. Follow that with periodic copies to some other media which is stored off site in case of fire, flood or earthquake.

With 90+ GB of images (I'm just an amateur) the process of copying to optical has become sufficiently onerous that I no longer do it more than once every couple years - if then. However, 90GB is way too much for on line storage - even with a big pipe. I'm just not going to spend the money for a big tape unit. I might consider another USB drive and simply rotate them in and out of storage every 6 months or so.

[Jeni]

I am in the process of looking at sites to store my photos and I like both Smugmug and Flickr. If I were to do Smugmug I would do the power user account for $59 so I could personalize it more OR would I be better off with Flickr for $24.

I don't really know much about either one and I have searched for info and that is how I have come down to these two.

I just need the pro/con with the sites so I can make an educated decision on which way to go.

BTW one day after I take more photos of sports and understand my camera, I may sell them so moving up is potentially a possibility......any thoughts????

[Jeni]

Sorry I posted this twice...........I'm brain dead today so Please excuse me. I have read all the info posted and I do want a site that I can get copies if I lost them.........all of them.

I think maybe another HD would be cheaper and just use it for backups but online storage seems appealing.........decisions decisions

SORRY I POSTED ANOTHER THREAD ON THIS VERY SAME ISSUE.....DUMB BLONDE

[Jeni]

You will have to excuse me because I have already started this on another thread but would like our thoughts on these two sites anyway.

Pros/Cons?????

SORRY TO POST IN 2 THREADS......BRAIN DEAD TODAY.

[wulf]

Fixed - I've merged the two back together.

Personally, I am very happy with Flickr. $2/month (so round about £1 in real money ) is a great deal for all that I get out of the site - not just another place to store my pictures but also a quick way of getting versions at different sizes and a place to interact and learn from other photographers.

However, I know that you will also find happy Smugmug users on here. I might consider that route if I were more interested in trying to sell some of my shots but Flickr is fine for me at present (and you can also try it first - I had a free account for months before deciding upgrade).

Wulf

[sunsetter]

I am not yet a member of Flickr but had a bad experience with them yesterday. I got an email saying my prints were ready, someone had got some of my photos someway and using my email name were ordering prints. I sent an email to Flickr stopping the whole thing. There was a red flag by them saying someone was phishing on their site. Anyone know anything about this type of scam?