Saving D/loaded Payware

[John Giddens]

  I,m not sure if this topic has been mentioned before, but I,m upgrading soon and would like to know the pros and cons of saving D/loaded payware files . Copy to Disc, USB stick, another driver ? Not sure the right road to take . All suggestions appreciated , cheers

[Bulldog]

Another HD would be the go or lotsa disks.

[Adrian Lehmann (FSS)]

I don't think it's a real issue where you save them but you certainly should save/back them up somewhere. The obvious pro of course being that you don't have to download them again. A spare (and portable) hard drive makes a heap of sense. It makes it very convenient to retrieve and re-install on another machine. But having been through a few drives (as in dead drives in external USB enclosures) I would also suggest filling up a DVD or three for the archives, just to be super sure you wont lose anything.

[Heiko Glatthorn]

Aye, i use a dedicated HDD for backups like such. I create a folder which contains the download and all emails with the order number and registration key. Well, i even copy any passwords or registration keys into Notepad and save it in this folder as text file (just in case i can't open the email files anymore).

When i got a plane with a lot of repaints and texture updates like for example the Mooney, i back the whole aircraft folder up. So in case of a reinstall, i just overwrite and all updates and liveries are back.

[Kazok]

I use an old Synology DS106 NAS box, it's attached to my router so it's available on wired and wireless network. I also use it to store my music selection, which means I can pick up my music in the garden as well as in the house. And it's available to both my PC, PS3 & laptop without messing around disconnecting/reconnecting when I want to use it.

Cheers

Steve

[Maurice_King]

You should have no less than 2 Copies of ANY downloaded Software etc my friend. At least 1 lot on a HD preferable an internal Caddy rather than External and a CD or DVD copy at the very least, I have an older PC in our network and it's SOLE jobe is to sit there with  2  LARGE drives in it besides it's bare OS and it is the Main storage device now totaling 2 Tb.

One of the best methods I've seen and also what I model my file management on is similar to a Web Site - I have this internal Web site headed by HFS file server program.  HFS stands for Hypertext File Server. This software is incidentally a freeby. 

All my downloads segregated by type and Subject etc and downloaded directly to this file server in Logical order ie Tools , System Updates, Games, Photography etc.

They are then available for use by any PC in the home network or the Web for that matter if I chose, based on the permissions and security I set.

It might seem like an over kill but if I've learned one thing in my involvement in the IT industry over the years it is " Protect your Arse ".

Another trick I employ is to make a duplicate of the Main Software repository on another removable Drive Caddy that is backed up Weekly and stored at my Mums place, so I have a complete backup in case of fire or some other catastrophic failure.

Large reliable Hard Drives are CHEAP these days when compared to the time needed for LARGE DATA backup jobs onto DVD or CD's and IMHO these days are just as reliable (if you look after your HD's).

Granted I have been lucky but then I'm probably more anal when it comes to backups.

I hope this helps you.

[flyhalf]

Aye, i use a dedicated HDD for backups like such. I create a folder which contains the download and all emails with the order number and registration key. Well, i even copy any passwords or registration keys into Notepad and save it in this folder as text file (just in case i can't open the email files anymore).

When i got a plane with a lot of repaints and texture updates like for example the Mooney, i back the whole aircraft folder up. So in case of a reinstall, i just overwrite and all updates and liveries are back.

This is exactly what I do.

[John Giddens]

  Wow , thanks everyone for such detailed feedback , awesome , The HD is the go i,m thinking , I really appreciate your help , Ta , Johnno

[Penzoil3]

I back up mine on another hard drive, another networked computer, and DVD!

  LOL

  Sue

[Matthew Webb]

Aye, i use a dedicated HDD for backups like such. I create a folder which contains the download and all emails with the order number and registration key. Well, i even copy any passwords or registration keys into Notepad and save it in this folder as text file (just in case i can't open the email files anymore).

When i got a plane with a lot of repaints and texture updates like for example the Mooney, i back the whole aircraft folder up. So in case of a reinstall, i just overwrite and all updates and liveries are back.

That's basically what I do.  Everything needed to register/activate the product is stored in a text file with the main download.  Each product has it's own folder for proof of purchase files, e-mails , etc.  I have an aircraft folder and a scenery folder for a bit of organisation.

I used to use DVD's as a backup which also had all my FS9 CD's in one directory so I could install FS9 without swapping CD's.  With FSX, that's gone and I install from hard drive only.  I back it up to another hard drive on my trusty QNAP...

If my house burns down, I got better things to worry about than my FS addons, so I don't worry about off site backup for that stuff.

Cheers,

Matt.