Note: Photo tips are answers to questions asked on our Facebook page. If you would like to submit a question, please click here to submit your question. We will then post them on our Facebook page and let our fans respond to the question. We will then transfer the question over to our blog so we can keep them in an organized way for others to see.
Question from Daniel: “What would be the best way to store my photos that I have little to no risk of losing them? Straight on my computer? USB/ flash drives? Camera cards? External hard drive? Multiple of these? Thanks a bunch!”
Stephanie: I store all my photos on an external HD, CD/DVD’s
Kristin: Multiple! I personally back up to disc as well as carbonite. That way I have more than one copy and one is “off site” in case of a tragedy like a fire or tornado.
Chris: I back most of mine up on disc and flash drives
Carla: 2 externals with exact same stuff saved..i learnedhard way and only had 1 external and it died and was unrecoverable……but 2 external and then if you have time then disk also….2 should be the least amount of times its backed up……i read a mag artical about how this guy has 5 back ups and thought that was exsessive and then the next day was when my hard drive died…..thought i was stupid thenn…lol
Brandon: Always multiple. It may seem redundant, but it’s better to be safe than sorry! I’ve used External HD’s, DVDs, as well as online storage. If you can store an External or DVDs at a friend’s house, lock box, or whatever else you can that’s even better as another back up.
Melissa: I put mine both onto my computer and onto an external hard drive.
Stacy: external hard drives and a backup online service… if u pile up pics on ur computer u’ll kill it!
Debbie: Good question. I use an external hard drive.
Although I haven’t done this, I’ve heard great things about Carbonite. It’s computer storage of anything. So if your ocomputer fails or your flash drives/external hard drives are damaged, your items are still safe. And they can be accessed from any computer anywhere.
Wendi: Yes! Multiple hardrives and kept in different locations such as safety deposit box, fireproof safe, etc. I had one external hard drive with about 4 years of photos of my kids, etc and something happened to it where I can not access the data. So sick to my stomach over it and so far have not been able to recover the data. It is worth $$ spent on more than one external drive.
Tricia: Daniel ask Kevin Russell. He will have the answers you need.
Katie: Multiples – we have a server in our house … and a backup server … so everything goes to the main server, then is backed up to the second server. I also burn everything. Not risking it!
Gabby: External hard drive, Flickr pro, and Carbonite.
Tom: 2 external HD’s.
Todd: I think the best way is a Drobo FS & Carbonite! The Drobo is 5 SATA drives (any size or speed- mine is 15 TB) which is pretty secure. Carbonite is good if you have a small collection!
Cher: Daniel, I have mine stored on an external hard drive & I also back up to a CD RW disc that I store in a water tight zip lock bag & container too. You can make copies & leave with someone who you trust as well
Ronald: External HD and online storage service such as Dropbox.
Daniel: Thanks everybody for your wonderful advice! I would much rather err on the side of caution! You guys rock…
Feel free to keep responding to this question using our comment section below.