So, we are all told "back up safely, using an internet based drive back up system. In theory it sounds fine - but HEY, there are REAL risks - as some users of Driveway may only find out when it is too late!
Driveway was one of the first internet based file backup providers - I used them as they were endorsed by McAfee (the leading virus protection company).
First, the good news - driveway did, in those early days, give me "peace of mind" - even if my manual backups to zip disk were destroyed in a fire at my home, I could rest easy knowing that driveway held a copy of my data in their massive file storage network, which was fire proof and hopefully bomb proof too!
I thought I was covered!
But then, just a couple of weeks or so ago, an email arrived out of the blue;
Driveway was shutting down its backup operation, and users had just a few days to copy their files from driveway and find another backup provider. After the 2 week notice period, NO further access to driveway files would be possible.
So, there you have it - 2 weeks notice and customers were then left high and dry!
OK, I was "lucky" in that I did get the email to warn me that was happening (some no doubt would fail to read it thinking it was just junk email). Other users, I suspect, may STILL not be aware of what has happened to driveway - they could be away on holiday or on business etc - and so by the time they come back to their computers and read their email it will be too late to access driveway!
NEVER again will I trust my backups to an internet based file backup provider - not just for the reasons illustrated above, but also there is a real practical problem in that you may find you need your backup files before you can get access to the internet - yet of course if you backup via the net, you can't get access to them in such circumstances! Of course, the problems can be overcome, but with zip disk technology offering quick and reliable backups (far quicker than over the internet) then I simply can not see myself ever again using anyone like driveway.
If you have any friends who may be driveway customers (or should I say think they are!), then let them read this page on driveway's website:
http://corp.driveway.com/corp/annc2.html
I think you will agree that this attitude stinks - surely they could at least made files available to existing customers for longer than 2 weeks.
How helpful would this review be to a person making a buying decision? Rating guidelines
Basically you get what you pay for. It pays to read the small print, especially on any free service, before committing any vital data. I have my doubts about the usefulness of on-line storage to most users anyway, but if anyone is still interested, freedrive.com and idrive.com are both still operating, for the time being. Xdrive ceased free operations in a similarly abrupt manner (in their case you were given the option to transfer to a paid service with no real benefits other than continued access). Paul.
pakalang 13.03.2001 00:23
oppss, sorry, that was what u're implying soo in your ops.. sorry, my mistake.. cheers :)
3 comments in a row..
pakalang 13.03.2001 00:22
this is their message:
A message regarding the discontinuation of our consumer Storage Service
Driveway Corporation has repositioned itself as a technology platform provider and has discontinued all Driveway.com file sharing and storage services. Beginning Feb 20, 2001, Driveway.com stopped accepting new user registrations, file uploads or purchases of additional space. All registered users were notified of the closure two times with two weeks notice at their email address of record. On March 5th, 2001, general access was halted to the storage site. The final "additional access" entrance for users was available until March 9th, 2001. There was absolutely no access to any files after this date.
Advantages: Very clean interface, secure, handy, reduces risk of corruption and data loss Disadvantages: Uploading and downloading is only as fast as your modem
Scribbler 12.01.2001 (06.01.2001)
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Ciao members have rated this review on average: very helpful
Review of driveway.com
Advantages: Very clean interface, secure, handy, reduces risk of corruption and data loss Disadvantages: Uploading and downloading is only as fast as your modem
Scribbler 12.01.2001 (06.01.2001)
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Ciao members have rated this review on average: very helpful
Review of driveway.com
Mar 12th, 2001
very helpful by (90%):
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