Comments on: Carbonite Review: I Finally Tried It http://www.clickfire.com/carbonite-backup-software-review/ Web reviews and how to's for site owners, bloggers and social media users Tue, 07 Feb 2012 10:56:24 +0000 hourly 1 http://wordpress.org/?v=3.3.1 By: Charlie http://www.clickfire.com/carbonite-backup-software-review/comment-page-1/#comment-15316 Charlie Wed, 14 Sep 2011 19:37:00 +0000 http://www.clickfire.com/?p=386#comment-15316 I have ahd Carbonite for a couple of weeks now. I am not very impressed. It has only backed up 5% of my files (about 300GB) and frequently hangs, requireing me to end the processes associated with Carbonite and manually restart the software. I am REALLY worried about the posts from people who have had trouble when they have a major failure. I can restore my own files if I accidentally delete them. I really need a solution that will be reliable when I need everything back again. It seems that layered backups solutions are a good answer. I need a clean mirror of my drive using Acronis or similar software to keep on site, and Carbonite to keep my photos and files off site. I have ahd Carbonite for a couple of weeks now. I am not very impressed. It has only backed up 5% of my files (about 300GB) and frequently hangs, requireing me to end the processes associated with Carbonite and manually restart the software. I am REALLY worried about the posts from people who have had trouble when they have a major failure. I can restore my own files if I accidentally delete them. I really need a solution that will be reliable when I need everything back again. It seems that layered backups solutions are a good answer. I need a clean mirror of my drive using Acronis or similar software to keep on site, and Carbonite to keep my photos and files off site.

]]> By: Michael Fiedler http://www.clickfire.com/carbonite-backup-software-review/comment-page-1/#comment-14691 Michael Fiedler Fri, 22 Apr 2011 22:54:10 +0000 http://www.clickfire.com/?p=386#comment-14691 Carbonite doesn't work. Started OK, though uploading is very slow, even slower than my ISP upload speed. Then stopped uploading altogether. Even on "low" setting used up to 90% of my CPU cycles, dramatically slowing my computer down. Had to disable carbonite during the day when I wanted to actually use my computer. Poor customer service - that never helped fix the problem then tried to act like it was my problem. DO NOT RECOMMEND. Carbonite doesn’t work. Started OK, though uploading is very slow, even slower than my ISP upload speed. Then stopped uploading altogether. Even on “low” setting used up to 90% of my CPU cycles, dramatically slowing my computer down. Had to disable carbonite during the day when I wanted to actually use my computer. Poor customer service – that never helped fix the problem then tried to act like it was my problem. DO NOT RECOMMEND.

]]> By: Karl the Roadie http://www.clickfire.com/carbonite-backup-software-review/comment-page-1/#comment-14237 Karl the Roadie Sat, 19 Mar 2011 15:21:32 +0000 http://www.clickfire.com/?p=386#comment-14237 So after several years using Carbonite on multiple machines I had the inevitable hard drive failure. No problem! I have Carbonite!! So I replaced the hard drive, installed a new OS (Windows 7, I had XP previously) reinstalled all the programs (that were Win 7 compatible) and then I asked Carbonite to restore everything it had backed up at the point I lost the drive. After 4 days of downloading data I finally got all my emails, documents, music files, spreadsheets, and photos, but to my horror I had NO FLIP VIDEOS. In addition to all the home videos of the grand children I had also been working on a documentary (shot completely with Flip Video) and all my raw footage was on that drive (yeah I know, really really stupid but... HEY, I HAD CARBONITE SO WHY WORRY?) Why oh why in the wide wide world of sports would Carbonite EXCLUDE all video files??? I read where Carbonite "warned" me to manually select the folders with video if I wanted to back them up (as if I WOULDN'T want to back them up) but I don't read all the dumb a s s fine print on everything I agree to on the web and doubt 99% of the people do. I now see in the Carbonite FAQ section that I should have known that video files and files larger than 4 GB are NOT backed up unless manually selected. HERE'S A SUGGESTION..... Dear Carbonite When I first back up a computer's hard drive give me a list of files NOT backed up (e.g. video files and files larger than 4 GB) and then ASK ME if I want them backed up or not. This documentary footage was shot over a two year period, involved two trips to Las Vegas, one to Nashville, and six to San Antonio. They were shot backstage at 20+ concerts involving several dozen artists and is IRREPLACEABLE. I am so glad however that all the sample jpg photos included in windows (like the sunset, the Jellyfish, and the chrysanthemum) were important enough to back up, but my FREAKIN VIDEOS were not. I can't believe I actually had banner ads on my websites promoting this service. My last hope is that the guy trying to "repair and recover" my orginal hard drive has success. Shame on you Carbonite. Your quest for limiting the size of my backup (how much would that have cost these days? $1.02?) has ruined my documentary. Karl the Roadie So after several years using Carbonite on multiple machines I had the inevitable hard drive failure. No problem! I have Carbonite!!

So I replaced the hard drive, installed a new OS (Windows 7, I had XP previously) reinstalled all the programs (that were Win 7 compatible) and then I asked Carbonite to restore everything it had backed up at the point I lost the drive.

After 4 days of downloading data I finally got all my emails, documents, music files, spreadsheets, and photos, but to my horror I had NO FLIP VIDEOS.

In addition to all the home videos of the grand children I had also been working on a documentary (shot completely with Flip Video) and all my raw footage was on that drive (yeah I know, really really stupid but… HEY, I HAD CARBONITE SO WHY WORRY?)

Why oh why in the wide wide world of sports would Carbonite EXCLUDE all video files???

I read where Carbonite “warned” me to manually select the folders with video if I wanted to back them up (as if I WOULDN’T want to back them up) but I don’t read all the dumb a s s fine print on everything I agree to on the web and doubt 99% of the people do.

I now see in the Carbonite FAQ section that I should have known that video files and files larger than 4 GB are NOT backed up unless manually selected.

HERE’S A SUGGESTION…..

Dear Carbonite

When I first back up a computer’s hard drive give me a list of files NOT backed up (e.g. video files and files larger than 4 GB) and then ASK ME if I want them backed up or not.

This documentary footage was shot over a two year period, involved two trips to Las Vegas, one to Nashville, and six to San Antonio. They were shot backstage at 20+ concerts involving several dozen artists and is IRREPLACEABLE.

I am so glad however that all the sample jpg photos included in windows (like the sunset, the Jellyfish, and the chrysanthemum) were important enough to back up, but my FREAKIN VIDEOS were not.

I can’t believe I actually had banner ads on my websites promoting this service.

My last hope is that the guy trying to “repair and recover” my orginal hard drive has success.

Shame on you Carbonite. Your quest for limiting the size of my backup (how much would that have cost these days? $1.02?) has ruined my documentary.

Karl the Roadie

]]> By: Emory Rowland http://www.clickfire.com/carbonite-backup-software-review/comment-page-1/#comment-14046 Emory Rowland Tue, 08 Mar 2011 05:13:09 +0000 http://www.clickfire.com/?p=386#comment-14046 tracy, did you ask Carbonite support why that was happening? Did you get your files back? tracy, did you ask Carbonite support why that was happening? Did you get your files back?

]]> By: tracy carr http://www.clickfire.com/carbonite-backup-software-review/comment-page-1/#comment-13354 tracy carr Tue, 01 Feb 2011 16:35:23 +0000 http://www.clickfire.com/?p=386#comment-13354 i am sick about using carbonite at first i thought it was fantastic, i could look at files remotely....that was great now i have had to replace a computer that the hard drive went out of and everything comes up........no files available. i don't get it the folders seem to be there but NO files it is easy to back up and look at remote access......BUT it seems to be STUPID about restoring. i would have to say the average joe needs to stay away from carbonite i am sick about using carbonite
at first i thought it was fantastic, i could look at files remotely….that was great
now i have had to replace a computer that the hard drive went out of and everything comes up……..no files available.
i don’t get it the folders seem to be there but NO files
it is easy to back up and look at remote access……BUT it seems to be STUPID about restoring.
i would have to say the average joe needs to stay away from carbonite

]]> By: Steve C. http://www.clickfire.com/carbonite-backup-software-review/comment-page-1/#comment-4843 Steve C. Sat, 17 Jul 2010 14:41:36 +0000 http://www.clickfire.com/?p=386#comment-4843 I read many reviews saying that Carbonite was quirky and slow. But, I figured I was tech savvy enough to figure out how to get it to work for me. Sadly, I was not. My data system crashed hard a couple days ago. And, Carbonite backups did not work at all for the restoration process. Their system does not allow for a total system rebuild. If you need to recover a deleted file then it is sufficient for that. If you lose everything, Carbonite did not work for me. If I had understood exactly how unreliable the Carbonite system was, I would have tried my system recovery in another fashion. Their system is just not reliable enough when things really get messy. -steve I read many reviews saying that Carbonite was quirky and slow. But, I figured I was tech savvy enough to figure out how to get it to work for me. Sadly, I was not. My data system crashed hard a couple days ago. And, Carbonite backups did not work at all for the restoration process.
Their system does not allow for a total system rebuild.
If you need to recover a deleted file then it is sufficient for that. If you lose everything, Carbonite did not work for me.

If I had understood exactly how unreliable the Carbonite system was, I would have tried my system recovery in another fashion. Their system is just not reliable enough when things really get messy.

-steve

]]> By: John http://www.clickfire.com/carbonite-backup-software-review/comment-page-1/#comment-4416 John Mon, 01 Mar 2010 23:25:34 +0000 http://www.clickfire.com/?p=386#comment-4416 Have been a carbonite customer for 12 months and have had to perform two restores using this product due to Dell hardware problems and recent virus issue requiring o/s rebuild including disk format. I have no problem with the backup side of this product but the restore and support is poor at best. The files eventually get restored after several days but you have to watch the process like a hawk. Their restore status is not accurate and they recommend reading their lengthy log files. The process hangs “waiting for connection to carbonite backup server”. This requires carbonite to log on to your computer and reset their processes (several times). In some cases they have to reinstall the software. They do not handle Outlook file restores very well, a 500MB file took 24 hours on a DSL line and they were not saturating it. Support wait times were 10-15 minutes during the day and some of the support staff were rude, demanding that we restore the software each time and when you ask for a supervisor they magically fix the process. We are now looking at Mozy along with a local backup option for Outlook. Make sure you take the time to test not only the backup but the restore! Have been a carbonite customer for 12 months and have had to perform two restores using this product due to Dell hardware problems and recent virus issue requiring o/s rebuild including disk format. I have no problem with the backup side of this product but the restore and support is poor at best. The files eventually get restored after several days but you have to watch the process like a hawk. Their restore status is not accurate and they recommend reading their lengthy log files. The process hangs “waiting for connection to carbonite backup server”. This requires carbonite to log on to your computer and reset their processes (several times). In some cases they have to reinstall the software. They do not handle Outlook file restores very well, a 500MB file took 24 hours on a DSL line and they were not saturating it. Support wait times were 10-15 minutes during the day and some of the support staff were rude, demanding that we restore the software each time and when you ask for a supervisor they magically fix the process. We are now looking at Mozy along with a local backup option for Outlook. Make sure you take the time to test not only the backup but the restore!

]]> By: Lawrence Attaway http://www.clickfire.com/carbonite-backup-software-review/comment-page-1/#comment-4269 Lawrence Attaway Thu, 17 Dec 2009 19:02:22 +0000 http://www.clickfire.com/?p=386#comment-4269 After hearing about Carbonite on the radio, I think it was Kim or Rush, I installed it even though I could not remember the promo-code. What seemed like 5 minutes later, actualy about 2 months, my computer died. I took it an a couple of old ones and mine combined to make this one. All I had to do was log on and download. I just a couple days my computer was all better. I have since advised my Father to use Carbonite and I think that says it all. After hearing about Carbonite on the radio, I think it was Kim or Rush, I installed it even though I could not remember the promo-code. What seemed like 5 minutes later, actualy about 2 months, my computer died. I took it an a couple of old ones and mine combined to make this one. All I had to do was log on and download. I just a couple days my computer was all better. I have since advised my Father to use Carbonite and I think that says it all.

]]> By: Emory Rowland http://www.clickfire.com/carbonite-backup-software-review/comment-page-1/#comment-3487 Emory Rowland Mon, 16 Mar 2009 02:52:40 +0000 http://www.clickfire.com/?p=386#comment-3487 <img src="http://www.clickfire.com/viewpoints/wp-content/uploads/carbonite-restore.png" alt="Carbonite Restore" title="Carbonite Restore" width="463" height="231" class="alignnone size-full wp-image-487" /> Today was the first time that I "had" to use Carbonite to restore lost data. I woke up and opened my email client, Eudora (yes I know it's old school and I haven't had time to switch it out yet) and for some reason, all email messages from 2008 had disappeared from my outbox. I did some research and found the 2 file names needed, then went into Carbonite Backup's restore mode and picked a restore date of a few days earlier. It worked. Got my files back. Carbonite Restore

Today was the first time that I “had” to use Carbonite to restore lost data. I woke up and opened my email client, Eudora (yes I know it’s old school and I haven’t had time to switch it out yet) and for some reason, all email messages from 2008 had disappeared from my outbox. I did some research and found the 2 file names needed, then went into Carbonite Backup’s restore mode and picked a restore date of a few days earlier. It worked. Got my files back.

]]> By: Robert http://www.clickfire.com/carbonite-backup-software-review/comment-page-1/#comment-3327 Robert Mon, 05 Jan 2009 23:49:51 +0000 http://www.clickfire.com/?p=386#comment-3327 I have mixed feelings about Carbonite and Roaming raises some good points. Personally I like IDrive online backup. Similar to Carbonite, but in my experience quite better (and restores are easy and pretty fast). I have mixed feelings about Carbonite and Roaming raises some good points. Personally I like IDrive online backup. Similar to Carbonite, but in my experience quite better (and restores are easy and pretty fast).

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