Laptop Backups - anticipated battery failure

Laptop backups are an integral part of my daily routine. I backup to the cloud with crashplan as well as to an external hard drive. I also back up files as they are every few days or weeks so that if a drive fails I have at least one or two backups. In some cases I have more backups.

Imminent battery failure

Recently I was backing up the files from my most recent mac book pro because I noticed that the mouse was starting to fail every so often. When this happened on other mac book laptops it meant that the battery was starting to fail and to inflate. The battery was in a critical state so I expected it to fail and to take it to the apple store. I created a login just so that the Apple Maintenance team could fix it without having to log in to my main profile.

Stolen

A few days ago I took this machine to Geneva to collaborate on a project. We didn’t work much so I left the computer in a room, out of view and where I expected very little people traffic. After half an hour or so I decided to go and recover my laptop bag. When I arrived I saw the flask next to it. When I lifted the laptop bag it felt stupidly light. I checked the bag and the tables around. No sign of the laptop. The machine I had backed up just minutes before going to Geneva was stolen. I reported it to the location where I was and within fourty minutes I reported it to the police. I am really happy with the Swiss Police. Within fourty minutes the crime is reported and you can get on with preparing insurance details. A few years ago when I was mugged I was told to “come back tomorrow.” I have been going to conferences, events, universities, schools and offices with my laptops for close to 20 years without a single theft. It’s ironic that it was stolen from a place where I have seen dozens of laptops unattended over the weeks. I should have left it in a room with a lot of people.   For another perspective and point of view: Benefits of Unlimited Cloud Backup for SMBs