Backups [was Re: Is tape dead?]

[Liam Proven]

On 18 September 2015 at 18:49, Fred Cisin <cisin at xenosoft.com> wrote:
> Absolutely.
> I now think that it was a "We're Adobe, click here to update Flash Player"
> or maybe "Java update"

I can see how one of those, done well, might fool most of us. I am not
one of those daredevil ascetics who runs Windows without anti-malware
but with no Flash, Java, etc. -- crap like that is the reason I run
Windows. I won't let MS clients connect to the Internet on my own
machines though -- no MS chat client, email, browser, music player,
video player, _anything_. All disabled or removed and replaced with
FOSS alternatives.

Sadly, this isn't really practical in business.

> But, I never got my winnings from the Elbonian Lottery.

It would have been all muddy anyway.

> It got everything in that computer, and started on the backup drive that was
> currently connected.  I now realize the importance of diconnecting the
> backup drive promptly.    D'uh!

Yes, and thank you for the salutory lesson!

> But, it got bogged down in the first directory of the backup drive, and
> hadn't moved on to the other directories by the time it started extortion of
> the computer!  Tht directory was full of zillions of files, mostly photos
> copied from my friend's computer after he died.  He saved me from beyond the
> grave!   And, I still have his machine to make another copy of those.

Small blessings, I guess.

> Hmmm.  30 years ago, I stepped on the DIRectory of a floppy, and created a
> subdirectory that had a subdirectory that was its parent directory.  It
> actually worked well enough to prevent CHKDSK /V from being able to walk the
> DIRectory tree (kept trying to follow subdirectories back onto themselves).
> I wonder if that would work on this?  (until they notice, and change their
> sequence).  Also created files named "*.*" and "????????.???", multiple
> entries for same file in DIRectory, etc.

Niiiiiiiice...


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